john cusack-related stories
Posted Aug 21st 2009 12:02PM by Joel Keller
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, Industry, Interviews, Celebrities, Reality-Free
Joan Cusack has made a career of finding the comedically crumbling foundations beneath what are at first normal-seeming characters. The two-time Oscar nominee also has a knack for making the most out of her roles, and in the
new Lifetime movie Acceptance, both of her greatest skills are on display.
In the movie, which debuts on Saturday at 9PM ET, Cusack plays Nina Rockefeller, the hard-driving and high-strung mother of the movie's protagonist, Taylor (played by Mae Whitman of
Arrested Development). The movie examines the pressure on high school overachievers to go to just the "right" college, and the story is told in a way that looks at it from both the students' and the parents' perspectives.
Cusack called me from Chicago (where she lives full-time) earlier this week. We talked about college pressures, if the notion of a Lifetime movie has changed, and why she loves working with her brother John so damn much.
Continue reading Joan Cusack: The TV Squad Interview
Posted Nov 16th 2008 2:45PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Ask TV Squad, Celebrities, Reality-Free
The answer: Hugh Laurie.
Ha! Just kidding. Actually, the question this week comes from TV Squad reader Toni, who asks "On
House, what was the name of the guy who played
Stewart Nozick?" She knows him from somewhere but can't think of his name or what show she knows him from (that has happened to all TV viewers at some point, I think).
The actor's name is Todd Louiso, and he's one of those character actors who has been in a little bit of everything over the years, on TV and on the big screen. The first thing I think of when I see Louiso is his role in the John Cusack film
High Fidelity (that's him with Cusack in the pic). He played the record store worker that Jack Black was always teasing. He was also in
Apollo 13,
Snakes on a Plane,
Thank You For Smoking,
Jerry McGuire, and
The Rock.
The TV show that viewers might remember him from is the short-lived
Phenom and several episodes of
Chicago Hope. He has also made guest appearances on
Law and Order,
Everwood,
Without A Trace, and others.
Posted Jun 22nd 2007 5:57PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Late Night, TV Royalty, Programming, Celebrities, Talk Show
Charlie Rose: TBA - The Late Show With David Letterman: Seth Rogan, Charles Barkley, and Michael Martin Murphey (repeat)
- Jay Leno: Kelly Clarkson
- Jimmy Kimmel Live: Kevin Costner, Leslie Mann, and Patrick Wolf (repeat - Jimmy is in the hospital)
- Tavis Smiley: David de Rothschild and Michael Ondaatje
- Late Night With Conan O'Brien: Lauren Graham, Steve Zahn, and Rooney
- The Late, Late Show With Craig Ferguson: Eddie Izzard, Goo Goo Dolls, and John Roy
- Last Call With Carson Daly: Kathy Griffin and Enrique Iglesias
Posted Jan 10th 2007 4:20PM by Brigitte Dale
Filed under: Video, Podcasts, TV Squad Daily
Hey, Brigitte here with TV Squad Daily. I'll be covering the TV stories I find interesting each day, Monday through Friday, in this video blog.
Today on TV Squad Daily:
The video's embedded below, or you can
download the file directly (Quicktime required). You can also
subscribe to this vodcast via our feed. Posted Jan 9th 2007 7:40PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Entourage, Celebrities
I thought that this would be the Hollywood relationship that would last.
You can have your TomKats, your Brangelinas, your Bennifers, your Vaughnistons. The couple that I thought would be together forever was Pivack. Wait, that sounds like a character from Star Trek. How about Cuven? God, that sounds like a cholesterol medication.
I'm talking about the longtime friendship between John Cusack and Entourage star Jeremy Piven. In a new interview in Best Life magazine, Piven hints that the friendship is over, and hints even harder that it's because Cusack was jealous of Piven's success. Or could it be because Piven changed after his success? Who knows.
This is sad. These two have been friends since they were kids and starred in many movies together, including Grosse Point Blank, One Crazy Summer, Runaway Jury, The Grifters, and Say Anything.
Maybe these two just need to hug it out? (And yes, I'm sure that line will be used by every single person who writes about this story.)
Posted Nov 16th 2006 1:02PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: HBO, Premium Cable, Entourage, Celebrities
I love it when stars get into petty fights. They're just like us!
Seems that Entourage star Jeremy Piven doesn't like Jack Black that much. Black beat out Piven for the role of the record store employee in the John Cusack flick High Fidelity, and thinks that Piven still holds a grudge. Black told Howard Stern that he was talking to a director at a movie premiere recently, and right in the middle of the conversation, Piven stepped in between them with his back to Black and started to talk to the director. Of course, Piven's rep insists there's no problem between the two.
This is interesting, because Piven is very good friends with Cusack, and appears in most of his movies in some role. So I wonder why (or if) Piven wasn't chosen for the role in High Fidelity.
[via Pop Candy]
Posted May 16th 2006 11:09AM by Anna Johns
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, NBC, Talent, Scrubs, Interviews
John C. McGinley plays Dr. Cox, the mean doctor with a heart of gold, on
Scrubs. Ahead of tonight's season finale, he took a few minutes to speak to me about the roller-coaster ride
Scrubs had this season, his favorite episodes,
Office Space, and why Dr. Cox hates Hugh Jackman. Plus, we also find out which famous actor McGinley calls girl names in real life. (Oh- and the 'C' in his name stands for 'Christopher').
AJ: NBC announced its fall schedule this (Monday) morning.McGINLEY: Yeah, it looks like we're picked up and we're going to be back on in January again.
AJ: How do you feel about that?McGINLEY: Great. It worked this year so... the tricky thing was having football on for four hours on Sunday nights. I guess that shuffled the deck for them. It worked great for us this year. Everybody seemed to respond to an hour. It's pretty phenomenal to be an hour comedy on Tuesday nights. I'm electing to go glass is half-full on this one.
Continue reading John C. McGinley: The TV Squad Interview
Posted May 10th 2006 7:37AM by Lacy Hall
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, FOX, OpEd, American Idol, Smallville, Music and Variety
It's always been a dream of mine to take a road trip to Tennessee to visit Graceland and Dollywood -- a white trash pilgrimage of sorts. I don't foresee that happening any time soon, so I'll make do with American Idol's homage to Elvis, and keep my fingers crossed for Dolly's night next season.
Everything about tonight was backwards -- the favorites sorta sucked, and Elliott finally found his moment to shine. My crappy internet connection keeps going out, so enough of the pleasantries...let's do this!
Continue reading American Idol: Elliott & Elvis are BFF
Posted Feb 15th 2006 10:48AM by Anna Johns
Filed under: NBC, Cable, Programming
Turner Broadcasting just inked a deal with NBC
Universal that puts a bunch of movies, including this winter's
King Kong, on its networks in 2008. Not sure if
the NBC network had the first right of refusal on that movie, but you would think so.
Along with
King
Kong, Turner also bought the rights to air these movies in 2008:
- The Ice
Harvest, starring Billy Bob Thornton and John Cusack;
- Doom, starring The Rock;
- Two for the Money, starring Al Pacino and Matthew McConaughey;
- Prime, starring Meryl
Streep and Uma Thurman.
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